Chapel Hill Free Transit System Garners Top Livability Award

Filed Under Best Practices, Feature Stories, Municipal Transit, Success Stories, Transit Trends, University Transit

The System Run in Partnership with the U. of North Carolina Has Leveraged NextBus Technology Since 2006.

Chapel Hill won top honors in the category for cities with populations of under 100,000 for creating the fare-free transit program.

Sponsored by Waste Management, Inc., and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the City Livability Award Program recognizes mayors for exemplary leadership in developing and implementing programs that improve the quality of life in their cities.

Since Chapel Hill Transit became fare free in 2002, it has become the second-largest transit system in North Carolina. Since that time, ridership has risen from 3 million riders a year to over 7 million riders annually projected for 2009.

This program is unique in that while some university transit systems provide fare free service for university students, faculty and staff, very few communities provide free transit service to all riders. The commitment in this community went beyond the University to all citizens in the community in an effort to encourage greater usage of public transportation and reduction of reliance on the single occupancy automobile.

“The Chapel Hill Public Transit system is the foundation of our sustainable future,” said Mayor Foy. “This bus system makes Chapel Hill continue to be the kind of place people love; for us it is an investment and it has paid off big time.”

The University is a full financial partner in the transit system which operates a total of 31 routes with 83 buses and 11 lift equipped vans.

The Chapel Hill community has long encouraged the use of transit over automobile use in central areas of Chapel Hill, including the University.

Since 2006, the system has employed NextBus technology to simplify operations and improve service for all riders throughout the community.

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